


Opening Up

by StevetheIcecube



Series: LeoNiles Week [5]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Family, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-31
Updated: 2018-08-31
Packaged: 2019-07-04 22:31:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15850731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StevetheIcecube/pseuds/StevetheIcecube
Summary: Leo hasn't told his siblings about his relationship with Niles and Odin has something to say about it.





	Opening Up

**Author's Note:**

> My contribution to day 5 of LeoNiles week, family!

Leo had always had a semi-rocky relationship with his family. He knew they didn't mean to, but he was decidedly less remarkable than the rest of them, no matter how hard he tried. He had his niche, and being devoted to that niche meant he didn't talk to them very often. He wasn't little and cute enough to be fawned over, he wasn't a dangerous protector, he wasn't the beacon of the family. He was just...himself.

Niles didn't have much to contribute to his problems with connecting with his family, either. Niles was amazing, and surprisingly sweet, and meant the world to Leo, but he couldn't offer advice in how to talk to family. Leo had asked for advice, once, and Niles' only response had been that he'd never had a family; he had no idea how to resolve issues like that.

But then, out of the blue, along came Odin. Odin bloody Dark, the only person Leo had ever met who was less socially adept than Beruka (for a different reason, of course; almost no one could stand speaking to Odin for more than a short period of time), was the person who had family advice for him.

Though Odin wasn't very good at anything else, he was surprisingly tactful about Leo's relationship with Niles. He wouldn't question when he was given guard duty outside Leo's tent while Niles was at Leo's side (well, Niles was usually behind him, but Odin didn't need to know the details), but that didn't mean he was good at keeping his mouth shut when they were alone.

"Do your siblings know of your illicit fornications with your bosom advisor, Lord Leo?" He asked one day, and Leo very nearly choked on air. Odin had such a way of putting things. And it wasn't a good way.

"They don't need to know," he managed, once he'd mostly recovered. Odin frowned.

"Those of your blood are those you should be able to trust with even your darkest secrets, and this is far from any abyss!" He declared. Well, at least he was positive about it. "Why hold back from those who know you best?"

"There's no reason to tell them," he said. He was willing to hear Odin out, of course, because actual advice was very rare from him, but there was no reason to share his relationship with Niles with his siblings. There was the very real risk they wouldn't understand, and he didn't really fancy having any kind of heartfelt talk with them anyway.

"There is every reason in the world to share a great joy of your existence with your family," Odin said firmly. "They are your heart, your blood, the centre of your home. If you cannot share your happiness with them, how will they detect if you sink into a pit of despair?"

"They don't need to," he said. "Really, Odin, it's of no consequence. You needn't worry yourself over something trivial like this. It's information I choose not to share with them because they would gain nothing by knowing."

"I have no siblings," Odin said, "but I am exceedingly close to my remaining family, back at home. My homeland was ravaged by a great war, my uncle murdered in his own home, my mother and father torn from me when I was merely a child. Had my cousins nor my close friends not been there to support me, I would not be here to fight beside you."

Leo was, for once, stunned into silence. For all of Odin's gesturing, his dramatics about himself, he never spoke about his past or personal life. For him to have said something here, he must feel incredibly strongly about this. "That's-"

"You should share yourself with your family," Odin said. "If you can trust them, then they can afford the same privilege with you."

Leo sighed, but he knew Odin was right. He had to be open with them at some point, or he'd just continue to feel left behind by them. The disconnect would only get wider if he didn't move to close it. And maybe he wished they'd done the closing themselves, but they clearly weren't going to. Now he just had to find a way to explain his relationship with Niles to them.


End file.
